Below is a short BusinessWorld feature article on a recent Hour Asia presentation of Discovery Channel. It’s about a hidden society in China with a most peculiar social structure – a society where all work is done by women, there is free love (no marriages), and daughters and sons live with their families throughout their lives!

Ms. Malapit is the Research Associate and Policy Analyst of Action for Economic Reforms.

A recent story on the Discovery Channel show Hour Asia featured an unusual indigenous tribe of the Yunnan province of China, the Mosuo people. Two things make this tribe particularly interesting: First, in this tribe women do all the work – including physical labor. Men do little or nothing all day. Second, there are no marriages in this tribe. Consequently, they have no concept of “husband” or “father.”

The Lugu Lake is home to the Mosuo people, one of China’s 56 ethnic
groups. Hidden from the rest of China behind the Xiaoliang mountains, the Mosuo culture has evolved with little influence from its neighbors. Unlike the rest of China, where the one-child policy created nuclear families and a clear preference for male children, the Mosuo people live in extended families and prefer female children.

Sexual freedom
The most publicized aspect of the Mosuo culture however, is their sexual freedom – men and women can have as many lovers as they wish without legal restraints. Recently, Lugu Lake has become a popular tourist spot, particularly for men enticed by the fantasy of “free love.”

The institution of marriage as we know it does not exist in the Mosuo
culture. Instead, they practice “walking marriages,” where the man would visit the woman at night, and go home to his mother’s house in the morning. They can begin or end their relationship at any time, and are allowed as many lovers as they wish. There is no formality in these relationships and lovers never share common property, as all property is inherited by women. Children borne from such unions are raised by the mother’s family, and live their entire lives in their mother’s home. There are no social or economic responsibilities expected from the father.

The Mosuo people find little reason to mix matters of survival and matters of the heart. For them, control over matters of property and the raising of children should remain in the hands of blood relatives, whose loyalty to the family is unquestionable. Thus, relationships are pursued out of love, without issues of money or property to complicate it. Contented couples stay together, and unhappy couples can go their separate ways. The absence of paternal relations has done away with domestic conflicts with in-laws, a common source of conflict in our society.

Mosuo families are organized in maternal clans, with several generations living under one roof. The extended family is led by the matriarch, and leadership of the household is passed on to the most intelligent daughter.

Economic decisions
The matriarch makes all the economic decisions, dividing the work and the income of the household among its members. The curious thing about the division of labor, however, is that women do almost all the work, both productive (farming/fishing) and domestic work. Men work only twice a year, during extreme labor shortages.

What is the quality of life of the Mosuo men? For many men in our society, a “walking marriage” is perhaps a dream come true. One anonymous male posted a message in the internet saying that all his friends want to join the Mosuo tribe when they found out that men can have multiple lovers with no social or economic responsibilities. But are Mosuo men really better off?

Following standard consumption theory, the Mosuo men must have very high levels of satisfaction or utility considering the amount of leisure they enjoy. On the other hand, if we define well-being in terms of human functioning, as in Amartya Sen’s definition of the ability “to do” and “to be,” one might conclude that Mosuo men are clearly at a disadvantage, since they have little control over their lives.

Gender bias
Feminist economists have argued that the gender bias we observe in our societies today reflects the power structure between men and women. Perhaps the arguments put forward by feminist economists are better appreciated when the tables are turned. In the Mosuo tribe, it is obvious that because women have control over resources, they can decide who gets what and enjoy a much higher social status than men.

In fact, because there is little conflict and therefore little bargaining
in Mosuo households, it exemplifies Gary Becker’s “altruistic” family model. In Becker’s model, an altruistic dictator (the matriarch), who “cares” for the welfare of all the members of her family, optimally allocates household resources among its members.

However, we must clarify that the matriarch does not dictate because she is the most altruistic or caring member of the family. She dictates because she has the power to do so.

The Mosuo tribe is a clear example of how gender roles are in fact
“socially ascribed.” Women’s biological function of childbearing has been traditionally used as an argument for the “natural” assignment of household responsibilities to women. Feminist economists argue, however, that only childbearing is biologically restricted to women, while childrearing and household work is socially determined.

Child rearing
In the Mosuo society, men participate in childrearing as uncles and brothers, but do little else. Surely, the assignment of productive work to women, including physical labor, has less to do with biological functions, and more to do with social structure.

One wonders how it is that the dominated gender, in this case the men, are not exploited or overworked. It is almost as if the men are being “compensated” for their disempowerment, and this benevolent treatment of men is probably what keeps them from overthrowing the matriarch.

In addition, this structure conditions men to depend completely on women in all aspects of survival. There is simply no incentive for the men to challenge their existing way of life.

This bears some similarities in the male-dominated households many of us are more familiar with. When women are less educated, and have less opportunities to financially support themselves and their children, they are entirely dependent on their husbands for survival. Unlike the benevolent treatment of men in the Mosuo tribe, however, these women work long hours and take on great responsibilities – often without recognition that what they do is “real work.” Although this breeds discontent, the lack of alternatives for these women and the threat of violence, allow this power structure to thrive.

Alternative structure
More than just a feminist fantasy, the survival of a culture with a seemingly impossible setup teaches us an important lesson: that an alternative social structure can exist. A world where no man rules, no man makes important decisions, no man inherits property, and no man works, is not just a myth.

Contrary to fears raised by those who hesitate to empower women, society need not fall apart when women have control. In fact, the female-dominated society of Mosuo exists in love and harmony – a stark contrast to male-dominated societies that exist in violence and hate. The Mosuo people have successfully averted many social problems. As a result, their language has no words for war, murder or rape.

Although the Mosuo experience is certainly far from the ideal of gender equality, it shows that there is nothing natural or inevitable about gender biases. A bias for one or the other is influenced by power relations and social roles, not biology. If we truly believe that every individual – regardless of race, ethnicity or gender – is entitled to the same privileges and benefits development has to offer, we must seek to transform the very structures that perpetuate and reinforce inequalities.

The good news is that gender relations have been changing with the times. Gone were the days when educating girls was believed to be a waste, since they will only marry and become housewives.

Gone were the days when it was unthinkable for a woman to vote. By recognizing that social roles can change, given the proper incentives, we have overcome the first hurdle in the struggle for gender equality.